While not everyone is a musician, many other people have longed to learn a musical instrument. Some people do learn, but many others stop learning and playing way too soon. According to research from Fender Guitars, 45% of guitar sales are generated by people who have never used one before – but 95% of people who try guitar give it up in the first year. That dramatically lowers overall industry sales, and gives Fender an opportunity.

Fender Guitar has a new plan to help people learn how to play classics such as The Star Spangled Banner and other songs. The key is to get future guitarists engaged quickly. The Fender Play web site has a guided curriculum so that students can pick the style of music they want to learn, and then immediately get instruction on songs from that genre. Fender Play includes:

A guided learning path for your musical style

Hundreds of lessons

High quality, close-up videos

New songs and lessons added regularly

Artists such as Foo Fighters, Elvis, U2, The Lumineers, and more

The service starts with a free 30-day trial period, followed by a fee of $19.99 per month. Fender Play is not limited to its own guitar players. Any guitar student can learn to play on their own instrument (but, of course Fender hopes to create future good will towards its company).

What are you waiting for? Pick up that six-string and go!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: Who plays guitar? Who used to play guitar? Who wants to play guitar? What keeps them from playing guitar?

Looking for something to watch this summer (besides the latest Game of Thrones)?

Nearly every college student and professor is familiar with TED Talks and its famous videos ranging from topics such as global business, happiness, medicine, technology, joy, workers, innovation, and much more. TED Talks are dedicated to ideas worth spreading. Have you ever wondered which ideas have been spread the most widely from all the years of TED Talks online videos?

Divide students into teams and have each team select a topic to search on TED.

Have each team select a video to show the class.

Each team should prepare at least five questions for the selected video. The answers to the question are in the video. As students watch the video, they analyze and prepare answers to the questions for class discussion.

It’s that patriotic time of year in the USA when citizens (and shoppers) show their support and pride in America. As could be expected, companies that advertise their patriotism can use it as a very effective marketing tool. After all, people want to be proud of their country and its accomplishments. But, what does it really mean when a company promotes its product as being “made in the USA?”

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), if a product is advertised as “Made in the USA” then “all or virtually all” of the product must have been made in the U.S. But, what does “virtually all” mean?

Again, the FTC states that the product should contain no (or negligible) foreign content. This means that all significant parts and processing must be of U.S. origin and final processing must also take place in the U.S. (includes the 50 states, District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories and possessions). These rules also apply to products that might not explicitly claim “made in the USA,” but may use images or American flags or U.S. maps, such as stating “true American quality.”

Take a close look at companies that state “made in the USA” and make sure the claim in legitimate.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: What does it mean if a product advertises that it is made in America? What products make this claim?